1 Corinthians 4:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore the Apostle says: we are worthy to be rejected and considered refuse not only by you, but by the whole world and by all people. And not merely for a time, but even until now. Notice what a Christian must be like. Notice that he is bound to struggle to the very end.

Many Corinthians were no more reverent toward their holy teachers. But the Apostle Paul was ready to forgive them, as a father forgives his sons for thoughtlessness and ingratitude. The Apostle gently reminded them of their injustice toward the difficult apostolic ministry. At the same time he added a reservation: in verse 14, “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.” For their sake he had endured so much, if only they might fare well in Christianity, and if only he might save them. The Corinthians had many different teachers, most often indulgent ones, who catered to their passions and corrupt tastes. Therefore the Apostle says, in verse 15, “For though you have thousands of tutors in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for I begot you in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.” I am your true father in spirit, and you are my children. I brought you to Christ, enlightening you with faith in Him. I pray and grieve for you every day. For you I must give account to God, when it becomes necessary to say at the dread Judgment: Behold, I and the children whom You have given me. Therefore the Apostle spoke as though saying: my beloved children, obey me above all, because around you and among you there are many false teachers and deceivers from among Christians. Among the teachers there are self-loving men who seek only honor for themselves, not the salvation of Christian souls. They are savage wolves in sheep’s clothing. Be careful with them. Do not be troubled by the simplicity of speech of a truthful, humble-minded pastor, nor even by the poverty of his clothing. All that glitters is not gold. Orthodox Christians, in the Corinthian Church even under the Apostles there were already many Christian teachers. But not all were sincere, not all honest and devoted to the truth. Some were false, flattering, self-loving, self-appointed without apostolic ordination, or not pastors but hirelings. Now, after eighteen centuries, such a multitude has multiplied from among Christian teachers, desiring to communicate truth under the guise of a theological proposition or opinion, a scientific philosophical fantasy, or an underground discovery and investigation, that they cannot be counted. But not all are fathers. Not all lead to Christ. The preaching of the truth of Christ as it is revealed in the word of God and clarified by the successors of the Apostles is what gives the right to be called a father. This honorable name belongs to the pastor of the Orthodox Church as the successor of apostolic authority. Therefore, Christians, be reverent toward the sacred rank. Put away from yourselves superstitions and prejudices against it. Show it love from the abundance of the heart, exceedingly (1 Thess 5:13). The pastor preaches the word of God to you. For your salvation he celebrates the holy sacraments, through which we are sanctified. The pastor, as a father, has the right to instill good in his spiritual children in every way, both gently and strictly. Therefore do not be burdened by a pastor’s rebukes, as by a father’s corrections. Healing medicine is not always pleasant and agreeable to taste, but it is healing. Of course, pastors are not angels. They too are sinful men. Saint Tikhon answers people’s remark about a pastor’s sinful life in this way: “Some say: the priest lives badly. But what is that to you? You will not answer to God for him; he will answer for you. So pray for him. He too is a man and can sin. Follow good teaching, but do not imitate a bad deed. A pastor must be loved as a father, honored as a teacher who leads to salvation, and gratitude must be shown to him for his labors.” One who does not honor the pastor does not honor Jesus Christ Himself (Lk 10:16; 1 Thess 4:8; Zech 2:8). Therefore the holy Apostle Paul, depicting the significance of the sacred rank, implores Christians to be respectful and grateful toward pastors. He says: I ask you, brethren, be respectful also toward pastors who have dedicated themselves to the service of holy things and the salvation of Christians (1 Cor 16:16). Honor pastors above others with love for their work (1 Thess 5:12). The one instructed in the word, that is, in preaching about Christ and piety, says the holy Apostle, should share every good thing with the one who instructs (Gal 6:6). The Apostle Paul himself highly valued the labors of his helpers, for example Timothy, in preaching the Gospel. He praised them and glorified them in his epistles to various Churches (1 Cor 4:17). He fed and sustained them at his own expense (Acts 20:34), and entrusted them to the same love of believing Christians.

By this he supported not only himself, but also others who were with him, as he said to the presbyters of Ephesus: “You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me” (Acts 20:34). I am not telling you, he says, about past sufferings, but about those we endure to this very hour: “We hunger and thirst, are poorly clothed, are beaten, and wander, and we labor, working with our own hands.” By these words the Apostle indicated courage and patience. In the following words he describes an even greater apostolic virtue. Verses 12-13. “Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. Being slandered, we entreat.” “Love your enemies,” said the Lord. “Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who abuse you and persecute you” (Mt 5:44). The Apostles fulfilled these divine commandments. The unbelievers insulted and mocked them, but they blessed those who insulted and mocked them: “Being reviled, we bless.” Their tormentors persecuted them in every way, but they courageously endured the persecutions and malice of those who persecuted them: “Being persecuted. We endure.” The impious slandered them, but they prayed to God for them and asked Him for their salvation: “Being slandered, we entreat.” Whoever endures and takes no revenge at all on those who revile, persecute, and slander him does a great virtue. But whoever not only endures and takes no revenge, but also blesses them and prays for them, ascends to the very summit of virtue. By these words Paul explained the perfection of apostolic virtue. In the following words he reveals how lowly the world thought the Apostles to be. Verse 13. “We have become as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.” What can be worse than refuse, that is, rubbish thrown out and trampled underfoot? What is more contemptible? Not only formerly, that is, when the preaching began, but even to this very hour, he says, we are in the eyes of the world like refuse and the trampling-ground of all men. But why did the Apostle of God describe the sufferings, virtues, and utter contempt of the Apostles with such expressiveness? First, in order to humble the high-mindedness of the Corinthians. Although he did not mention the conclusion that followed from his words, lest he stir them to anger, nevertheless by his very silence he cried out to them, as though saying: if we Apostles, chosen by God, filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And your teachers, endure such sufferings, undertake such struggles for virtue, and are considered so contemptible by men, how do you, being young disciples, dare consider yourselves wise, strong, glorious, and blessed? Second, he did this in order to describe the deeds and way of life of the Apostles as an example of virtue and perfection for all who believe in Christ. Since his rebuke of the Corinthians for pride, despite all his skill and knowledge, was sharp and painful, he softened the tone of his expressions and changed the bitterness of rebuke into the sweetest exhortation. “We entreat” also means “we ask” or “we implore.”

The other contrasts of the Apostle must be understood in the same sense. We are weak and dishonored. We endure hunger and thirst, nakedness and blows. We wander, and we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure. When we are slandered, we entreat. We are like the refuse of the world, like dust trampled by all (1 Cor 4:10-13).

Some of the Corinthians, on the contrary, thought that by becoming Christians, perhaps from among slaves, they had received outward advantages in which they ought to boast.

In correcting such people by pointing to his own condition, the Apostle also touches the common disease of the Corinthians. They boasted in worldly wisdom and outward power. He compares them with himself and the other Apostles, who did not exalt themselves in wisdom and power.

On the contrary, they were considered foolish by worldly sages and were not at all offended by this. Nor were they offended that the powerful of the earth counted them as nothings, as the dust of the ground.

By the Angels, for whom the Apostles were objects of shame, or a spectacle, one may understand both good and evil Angels. The struggle they waged from different sides was an object of attention for both. The cause for which they fought has universal significance.

The good Angels rejoice when they see the victorious struggle of the Apostles and of all who believe in Christ. The evil angels contrive to bring greater shame upon them. Therefore, in another epistle, the Apostle Paul says: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of wickedness under heaven" (Eph 6:12).

Like refuse swept from the house into the yard, and then from the yard as well, so they sweep us away from everywhere, wishing to sweep us out of the world. "The offscouring of all," περιψημα, is this same refuse, thrown out and trampled by all without any caution or attention.

It is impossible to say anything still more humiliating. What must those Corinthians have felt who said: Paul is unimpressive, poor, lives by his own hands, and the like; Apollos is better?

Yet Apollos did not endure what Saint Paul endured, both elsewhere and in Corinth. And this was for the work of God, of which they too had become partakers.

They could not fail to feel that what they counted no advantage in Saint Paul was in fact an advantage. There was nothing like it in Apollos, or in any other of ourselves. What shame and grief!